SPEAK OUT

FORENSICS
Forensic nurses are vital links in the chain of evidence, September 11, 2001

Forensic Nurse Examiners with specialised skills in the collection and preservation of medical evidence as well as in court procedures will provide a vital link in the chain of evidence necessary to prosecute and convict a perpetrator of violence, abuse or rape in a court of law.

This is according to Amy Kistnasamy, Chief Prosecutor at the Pinetown Magistrate's Court, who was speaking at the Forensic Nurse Examiner training programme, currently underway at Addington Hospital in Durban, on Friday.
The training programme was launched by the KwaZulu-Natal Minister of Health Dr Zweli Mkhize last month and is being presented by international expert and pioneer of forensic nursing, Virginia Lynch. Ms Lynch is educating 22 nurses from public hospitals across the region in dealing with survivors of violence, abuse and rape and in the medico-legal aspects of these crimes. An important component of the training has been preparing the nurses for their role as witnesses in a court of law.
Ms Kistnasamy said: "the nurses can provide crucial, expert evidence for the prosecutor to ensure that an accused is found guilty. The information in court can assist the criminal justice system in arriving at the truth and can make or break a case."
Ms Kistnasamy called on the nurses to follow the correct procedures at all times, including documentation and completion of the J88 form. Often a case was presented in court many months, sometimes years, after the incident and nurses would need to refer back to this documentation for their court testimony. Nurses, like any other witnesses, were also open to cross-examination and therefore needed to be confident of the details of the case.

She highlighted the important role that nurses specially educated in dealing with the medico-legal aspects of violence, abuse and rape would play in bridging the gap between health care and the law which has seen many a criminal go free in the past.

Lynch added that the proper collection of evidence also protected those who may have been falsely accused. "We have an equal responsibility to protect those who are innocent of the crimes for which they have been accused," she said.
The KwaZulu-Natal Department of Health is fostering closer working relationships between health care workers, police services staff and criminal justice personnel. Last week, the Police Services gave a Ballistics demonstration while Mark Hardwick from the Child Protection Unit presented a lecture on dealing with violence and abuse against children. Val Mellis, the senior public prosecutor for Family Violence and Family Abuse, also addressed the nurses. A Forensic Nurse Examiner fills a void by conducting forensic tasks concurrently with criminal and biomedical personnel. The education of nurses in forensic technique represents a new, holistic approach to the management of medico-legal cases involving victims of violent crime, perpetrators of criminal acts and the families of both. Completion of the Forensic Nurse Examiner training programme on September 20 will mark the launch of 40 Siyanakekela Crisis Care Centres to be established at public hospitals throughout KwaZulu-Natal for survivors of violence, abuse and rape.
KwaZulu-Natal Minister of Health Dr Zweli Mkhize says: "Our nurses, in most cases, are the first point of contact with a survivor of violence, abuse or rape. The unique skill of nurses educated in forensic technique will enhance the investigative capabilities and forensic functions of our hospitals.
"This training programme represents a meaningful step forward in correcting the weaknesses of the reporting system which has compromised justice and basic human rights, especially those of women and children, for too long."
Completion of the Forensic Nurse Examiner training programme will also mark the launch of 40 Siyanakekela Crisis Care Centres for survivors of violence, abuse and rape, which are being established at public hospitals throughout KwaZulu-Natal. Director of Forensic Services and Bio-Ethics in KwaZulu-Natal, Dr Shereen Akoojee, said the participants of the training course are nurses employed at hospitals where Crisis Care Centres will be established as well as nurse educators who will make the programme sustainable and take it forward. Dr Akoojee added that there will be a clinical on-site component to the training.
for more information contact: Dave McGlew, KwaZulu-Natal Department of Health Tel (033) 395 2549